The act of taxation was first utilized by the Romans as a form of raising revenue to keep its hundreds of armies compensated and to pave the roads leading to major cities that is part of their vast Empire. They believe that they are the owners of the land they have conquered and in exchange for tilling the land; a certain percentage is apportioned to them in a form of tax.

In present time, it is the task of a particular city government to raise funds to subsidize the basic needs of its constituents. The maintenance of roads and garbage collection are just two important functions that the city must do in order to provide a good living condition to its citizens.

The task of computing the taxes of your real estate is in the hands of one administrative department called the assessors office. Their main job is to come up with a specific amount on how much you need to pay for your real estate tax. The work in the assessors office is sometimes complicated and not easy for an ordinary citizen to comprehend. The assessors office understands this, so everyone is encouraged to get in touch with them for any questions or clarifications. The assessors office will find ways to enlightened you more on how your taxes are being computed. There are times that you really need to pay them a visit and here are some reasons that merits a visit to the assessors office.

If you want to examine your property records

To get an explanation on how the assessment of your property was determined

To get clarifications on the rationale of how it was obtained

When you think you are paying too high on real estate tax

Your property records are public documents so you can access it through your assessors office anytime during office hours. You can walk in anytime of the year and you will be guided and entertained by any personnel at the assessors office. But the workload months from March to May is pretty heavy because it is the time of the year where they are busy preparing for the filing of the tentative roll. You can still come and pay a visit them but it should be done through appointment only.

The moment you think that you are paying a little bit more than you ought to pay, then the assessors office is persuading you to drop by at their office. The assessors office will be able to provide you with a detailed explanation on how they came up with the amount that you are paying. It is the duty and responsibility of the assessors office to disclose fully to you how they compute for your real estate tax.

The reason behind the computation must be clearly explained by the assessors office for you to comprehend why you should pay a particular amount. It is important that you are able to exercise your right to know since your hard earned money is the one at stake.